Rest home audits boost transparency

Tracy Lynn

Rest home audit reports published fully online are both a good and bad thing, says Age Concern Wanganui manager Tracy Lynn.

"People have a right to know what they're going to but there has to be a balance," she said.

The Ministry of Health began to trial publishing the full audit reports online in November last year after talks with Grey Power and Age Concern to see if there was public demand for them.

"Since the trial began there have been over 6800 visits to the full audit reports website, with over 2500 full audits downloaded," said Associate Health minister Jo Goodhew.

Tracy Lynn said people were becoming "quite selective" and were using the the audit reports to determine which rest care facility they would choose.

"I always encourage people to actually go to a rest home," she said.

"They get a sense of the surroundings, of how people are being cared for, the staff.

"Use your instincts. It's not just about the audit reports."

She thought it would be a good idea for facilities to be able to rectify any issues that came up in the audit before it was published.

"Auditors are our friends.

"An audit is about not finding fault, but looking for improvement, continuous improvement."

Audit summary reports became publicly available in 2009.

The trial for full reports being published would end May 26.

Mrs Goodhew said she was keen to hear from the public as to how useful or not they are finding the full reports.

"This government has taken a number of measures to strengthen the assessing and reporting of rest home audits," she said.

"It is important that the system is robust and transparent so older New Zealanders and their families can feel secure and confident with the level of care they are receiving."

A questionnaire is available on the Ministry of Health website until the end of the trial period.